DANGER MINES... er HASH!

A little over a week back, Mount Hee and I traveled to Cambodia.
Specifically Phnom Penh, in order to hash.
On his budget level (one thing I have learned is that two travelers on
different budgets should meet up at places rather than travel together
as the limits of one almost always comes in conflict with the other)
we caught a train to the Thai/Cambodia border with intentions of
taking the next rail into Phnom Phen.
Boy that didn't work... First off the train from Bangkok was late,
then we arrived in the border town after the border closed, forcing us
to stay the night.
While looking for lodging Mount Hee kept aiming for the cheapest one.
The end result was a roach infested single room with ants on the bed
(where we figured the sheets weren't washed very frequently either.
Not trusting the place we took our valuables with us when we went out
to get dinner. On the way back I found a much nicer place for a
heftier price.
Not wanting to swallow the extra 3 dollars the reach motel cost him,
Mount Hee went back while I got a roughly 15 dollar room at this other
place where we agreed to meet the next day to cross over the border.
When crossing it was simply a run around. The border agent used a
guidebook (Lonely Planet?) to show us th entry rate, then asked for a
tip.
After that, he set us up with a shared taxi into Siam Reap. A 60
dollar ride smooshed into a Toyota Corolla with 2 other white people.
Then we went on a 4 or so hour ride along ghastly pot hole filled
roads, stopping at money changers (probably all working for the same
company as the taxi and border agent) who kept wanting us to change in
our Thai baht for cambodian currency (no thank you).
Then, the taxi takes us to a Tuk Tuk stand where we are told to switch
rides, and are given a guide who promises to arrange a taxi to Phnom
Penh for 80 US.
The driver doesn't speak english and the taxi doesn't even look like a
taxi. I think up a story to get rid of the tuk tuk driver and our
'guide', then have to pay off the taxi driver to get them to finally
leave.
So, there we are, in the middle of somewhere, siam Reap, Cambodia, the
only white people for who knows how far, and did I mention it's
raining like the dam burst?
Oh, the bus station is 'closed' also...
We hail a new tuk tuk and aim for the airport with hopes of getting a
plane to Phnom Penh and ending what has (for two days) been a relative
nightmare. Only to find out that you can't buy a plane ticket at the
airport. Only through travel agents in town... It's now past 8:00 at
night and we are both feeling very discouraged. Cambodia, so far, has
been ripping us off and leaving us for dead.
We catch another Tuk Tuk back into town, get a decent room that we
split for roughly 10 apiece and purchase boat tickets to Phnom Penh
for the next morning on the advice of Big Beaver, whom gave us a ride
from Indochina to Chiang Mai.
The next day consisted of a solid jet boat ride across the largest
lake in Cambodia, dropping us off in Phnom Penh with about 2 hours
until the hash started. We dropped our bags off, grabbed a tuk tuk and
made it to the pick up point about 1/2 an hour before they left to
begin trail.
Hashing in Cambodia wasn't all that bad, especially considering what
we went through to get there. It wasn't difficult by any means
(especially compared to what other hashers were telling me to expect).
Mostly along back alleys and wide dirt roads. We were in a more rural
area though, so we ran through some of the local villages where the
villagers were lining the streets to watch us (to quote the website)
"crazy barang runners".
Circle was lively and fun where everyone got to drink out of these
small silver bowls. The beer of choice in Cambodia is Anchor, a local
brew that is pretty hefty in alcohol content, ranging right up there
with the English Ales.
We spent an extra day in Phnom Phen, staying with a fellow hasher who
is also on Couchsurfing named Greg.
I finally got to break out my hammock which was also cool. There was
also the Water festival going on, so we all went to check that out.
Later that second night Mount Hee and I caught a flight to Bangkok, to
resituate for Malaysia.
Not wanting to deal with another border crossing mess, I booked a
flight, but seeing the 120 dollar ticket price, Mount Hee said, "Fuck
that." and went to catch an overnight train.
I spent the night at Noriega's bar (hash bars for the win!) and took
the flight the next morning to Penang with an extra day of leeway
before my first intended hash there with the Penang Harriets, which
will be my next post!